In mobility networks, physical network function (“PNF”) based network elements may be added to networks and provisioned through a process that may take hours or even days to complete based on the number of elements being instantiated, deployment configurations associated with the elements, and the like. In some instances, by the time a new PNF is activated on a network, the original need for the PNF may no longer exist. For example, an evolving network function may be provided by a version of PNFs deployed to a network. A particular version of the PNF may be obsolete when deployment is completed, in some cases, due to a rapidly evolving network, or the like.
In a long term evolution (“LTE”) or LTE-Advanced network, a mobile management entity (also referred to as a “mobility management entity” or “MME”) can include a centralized node. The mobile management entity can handle signaling procedures for mobile devices, for example. The mobile management entity can be deployed in standalone or pooled configurations. When deployed in pools, only specific eNodeBs in a predefined geographic area associated with the pools may establish signaling connections to the mobile management entities. Establishing the signaling can be a process that can take hours or even days to complete due to manual provisioning of the network by system administrators.